Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader
Facebook Twitter Pinterest <Embed>
Qty:1
  • List Price: $17.00
  • Save: $3.80 (22%)
FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books.
Only 2 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
The Loss of El Dorado: A ... has been added to your Cart
Want it tomorrow, April 23? Order within and choose Saturday Delivery at checkout. Details
Ship to:
Select a shipping address:
To see addresses, please
or
Please enter a valid US zip code.
or
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.
Used: Like New | Details
Sold by powells_chicago
Fulfilled by Amazon
Condition: Used: Like New
Comment: 2003. Paperback. Small publisher's mark on bottom of text block. Fine.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Something we hope you'll especially enjoy: FBA items qualify for FREE Shipping and .

If you're a seller, Fulfillment by Amazon can help you increase your sales. We invite you to learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon .

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon
Flip to back Flip to front
Listen Playing... Paused   You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more
See all 2 images

The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History Paperback – April 8, 2003

by
V.S. Naipaul (Author)
› Visit Amazon's V.S. Naipaul Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
V.S. Naipaul (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 7 customer reviews
See all 10 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions
Price
New from Used from
Kindle
"Please retry"
$8.35
— —
Paperback
"Please retry"
$13.20
$6.92 $3.36
Unknown Binding
"Please retry"
—
— $11.75
Top 20 lists in Books
Top 20 lists in Books
View the top 20 best sellers of all time, the most reviewed books of all time and some of our editors' favorite picks. Learn more
$13.20 FREE Shipping on orders with at least $25 of books. Only 2 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Frequently Bought Together

  • The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History
  • +
  • A House for Mr. Biswas
  • +
  • Miguel Street
Total price: $37.40
Buy the selected items together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. A House for Mr. Biswas
    V.S. Naipaul
    4.3 out of 5 stars 126
    Paperback
    $13.09 Prime
  2. A Bend in the River
    V.S. Naipaul
    4.2 out of 5 stars 133
    Paperback
    $12.77 Prime
  3. Miguel Street
    V.S. Naipaul
    4.5 out of 5 stars 45
    Paperback
    $11.11 Prime
  4. The Middle Passage
    V.S. Naipaul
    4.5 out of 5 stars 12
    Paperback
    $11.72 Prime
  5. An Area of Darkness
    V.S. Naipaul
    3.9 out of 5 stars 27
    Paperback
    $10.64 Prime
  6. In a Free State: A Novel
    V.S. Naipaul
    3.8 out of 5 stars 15
    Paperback
    $12.12 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Image
Interested in the Audiobook Edition?
If you’re the author, publisher, or rights holder of this book, let ACX help you produce the audiobook.Learn more.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage (April 8, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400030765
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400030767
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

  (What's this?)

Customer Reviews

5 star
71%
4 star
29%
3 star
0%
2 star
0%
1 star
0%
See all 7 customer reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Write a customer review

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsPowerful, disturbing and unforgettable
By Donal A. O'Neill on December 5, 2001
Format: Hardcover
This is the historical counterpart to Naipaul's "A Way in the World", even though it was written more than two decades earlier - these books should ideally be read back-to-back. It provides a history of Trinidad from the original discovery by the Spaniards until the early nineteenth century. The canvas covered is vast - the early Spanish attempts at colonisation, Raleigh's poorly-organised and squalid search for an El Dorado on the Orinoco, the arrival of French refugees escaping from the slave-uprisings on Haiti and the establishment of British control, with a leading but hardly-creditable role being played by Sir Thomas Picton, later a hero of the Peninsula and Waterloo, and the use of the island as a springboard for fomenting revolution in Latin America. It is from beginning to end a ghastly story, dominated by greed, cowardice and cruelty. There is hardly a single character who emerges with credit and at times the reader is all but overwhelmed by the catalogue of mean-minded exploitation, atrocities and treachery. As always in his non-fiction writing, Naipaul uses a novelist's eye to bring colour and life to the narrative - adding not just to the immediacy but also to the horror of much of the material. This work goes beyond historical narrative however and presents simultaneously an extended meditation on the nature of power at its most basic level. It is a terrible and disturbing work - but a great one.
Comment 13 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsHow does a large island get so lost?
By GlobalPsychoGeo on March 29, 2004
Format: Paperback
The Spanish were sure that there was a "Third Marquisate" out there somewhere. The first two Marquisates were Mexico and Peru, two fabulously wealthy ancient Native American civilizations looted and conquered by Spain. Spain was sure that another one- El Dorado- was out there begging to be plundered, just beyond what is now Columbia and Venezuela. Not wanting to miss out on yet another one, England gets into the act. The island of Trinidad is the perfect place from which to launch expeditions into the South American interior looking for El Dorado. Thousands of men march into the Amazon jungle, never to be heard from again. Yet rumors persist...
Eventually everyone tires of looking for El Dorado, and Trinidad is forgotten. Spanish colonists on Trinidad might as well be shipwrecked, as decades go by without a visit from a Spanish ship. Three Spanish nobles are given the Governorship, but none want it. Spanish people are encouraged to migrate to Trinidad, but few go. Spain invites French landowners from elsewhere in the Caribbean (displaced by the French Revolution) to settle in Trinidad, and some come to set up plantations on the island.
In 1797 the British send eighteen ships to take Trinidad from Spain. Outnumbered, the Spanish capitulate with barely a fight. The Spanish on the island aren't that unhappy about the British takeover anyway. Spain has ignored Trinidad, and at least the British aren't the revolutionary French.
Now there are settlers from three European countries trying to live together in Trinidad- the Spanish, the French planters, and the English. Which countries laws to follow? Some traditions are kept by French and Spanish planters in Trinidad, notably cruelty to slaves. These practices offend some British.Read more ›
Comment 14 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsSolid book for those interested in Trinidad History
By %%%% on January 21, 2014
Format: Paperback
V.S. Naipaul has always attracted me because he is a Trinidadian, like I am. I've read quite a few of his books, and he is undoubtedly one of the best. The Loss of El Dorado, I am pleased to say, shows off his skills.

The book is original because it dwells on Trinidadian history preceding the arrival of indentured servants from India. Specifically, Naipaul explores two events in which this small island attracted national headlines: the first recounts the frantic but fruitless quest for the mythical city of El Dorado by Ralegh, Berrio, and others; the second story relates the illegal torture of a young girl named Luisa Calderon and the accompanying scandal surrounding the culprit General Thomas Picton. Neither of these are mainstream stories. In Trinidad schools today, they are not even taught or included in textbooks. Thus, I give Naipaul credit. The research and care that went into this book's development was substantial and undoubtedly exhausting.

He says in the Foreword that this story "ends in 1813. Indians from India began to arrival in 1845; but the colony was created long before that." This quote is, essentially, the thesis of the book. Most Trinidadian historians focus on the arrival of indentured servants from India, but Naipaul here says that the colony was created before that. In Naipaul's thinking, the stories played a bigger role in the development of Trinidad than the Indians from India did. Naipaul's book is then mandatory reading for all Trinidadians interested in their history.

The story tellingly contains some depressing lines or occurrences to shape the perception of Trinidad. Antonio de Berrio pursued El Dorado with zest, but by age 75, he was insane and lonely after his failure to achieve the goal.Read more ›
Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
4.0 out of 5 starsA River Runs Into It
By M. Buzalka on January 2, 2016
Format: Paperback
In The Loss of El Dorado (1969), V.S. Naipaul traces the history of his homeland of Trinidad from its days under the Spanish to it takeover by the British in the 18th century and the years immediately following. It is a history dominated by a succession of dominant personalities and reads best as a kind of short story cycle. The island, located at the mouth of the Orinoco River off the coast of Venezuela, was perfectly positioned as a landing stage for expeditions to the interior of South America, especially for those seeking the legendary city of gold, El Dorado. Trinidad itself, however was basically seen as a backwater in this period, a dead-end assignment for governors unfortunate enough to be assigned there by the Spanish and then English monarchies.
Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
This item: The Loss of El Dorado: A Colonial History
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.